SWIMMINCiBuilding For the Future Building for the future could be the key phrase to describe the 1979 swimming team. With a new head coach, and mostly freshmen and sophomores on the squad, the Bisons placed fifth in the 1979 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference Swimming and Diving Championships . But that finish wasn't that bad in the eyes of the first-year head coach Jack Boustead, who joined the Harding faculty in summer 1978. "The results don't show the improvement that our swimmers have made this year," he commented. "We have some athletes who are good swimmers. Several coaches have told me that we have the potential to do well in the future." Juniors Wendell Cave of Gainesville, Fla. , and Steve Pylkas of Searcy, Ark. , were the only upperclassmen on the squad, which included 12 freshmen and five sophomores. Most of Boustead's squad had never swum competitively before the 1978-79 season. The Hendrix College Warriors , amassing 687 pOints, easily outdistanced the other AIC teams to claim the conference championship. Ouachita Baptist University was second with 248 followed by Southern Arkansas University, 247; Arkansas Tech University, 193; Harding, 134; Henderson State University , 84; and Arkansas College , 10. With the battle for second place in the conference winding down to the final eve,-,t - the 400-yard freestyle relay - the Bisons had a definite influence on the outcome of the battle for second. Swimming probably their best race of the year , the quartet of Pylkas , Carl Waites of Dearborn, Mich., Cave and Scott Smith pf Searcy, Ark., sped to a 3:40.72 clocking to claim second behind Hendrix. "Our relay put Ouachita in second place ," Boustead said. "We beat out Southern Arkansas for second in the freesty le re lay and that gave Ouachita a one-point edge in the final standings for second." The Bisons' 400-yard medley relay team of Smith, Steve Froelich of North Syracuse , N.Y., Pylkas and Cave placed fourth with a 4: 14. 157. In the individual events, two Bisons placed among the top six in their respective events. Smith claimed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle while Froelich finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Harding finished dual meet competition against other AIC schools with a 4-6 record, including victories over Arkansas Tech, Henderson and Arkansas College. Captaining the 1979 squad were Cave and sophomore Vernon Beach of Searcy, Ark. seaso.!.'l...l rOunuup 1979 Ale SWIMMING RESULTS Hendrix College Ouachita Baptist University Southern Arkansas University Arkansas Tech University Harding College Henderson State University Arkansas College 687 248 247 193 134 84 10 Swimming ~ 157
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